Shutout victory wraps up spring break

INDIANOLA, Iowa – A spring break tour of Iowa is in the books for the Concordia University women’s tennis team, which made its way to Indianola, Iowa, for Thursday (March 12)’s match at Simpson College. The Bulldogs won all but one set while blanking the Storm, 9-0, in an outdoor match against a fourth-straight NCAA Division III opponent.

Second-year head coach David DeSimone’s squad bounced back from a close 5-4 loss at Central College (Iowa) on Wednesday. Concordia moved its overall record to 6-3.

“Both teams played really well in some difficult outdoor conditions,” DeSimone said of Thursday’s match. “The women had a few close matches where we played well at some big moments. Ansley Gates won five-consecutive points to close out her super tiebreaker, 10-8. Kirsten Wagner played a great second set tiebreaker to win that match as well.”

While Wagner and Gates gutted out hotly contested matches, junior Katie Seja cruised to a 6-0, 6-0, win at No. 6 singles. Wagner held down the No. 1 spot and Gates slotted in at No. 4. In the other positions, junior Claudia Miranda Viera won 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3, junior Allison Marshall won 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3 and freshman Tara Ferrel won 6-1, 6-0, at No. 5.

In doubles, Concordia proved especially overwhelming at the back end of the lineup with the tandems of Ferrel and Wagner at No. 2 and sophomore Katy Krejci and senior Lindee Schultz at No. 3 both triumphing by 8-2 scores. At No. 1, Marshall and Miranda Viera teamed up on an 8-5 win.

Simpson (3-7) competes as a member of the American Rivers Conference. Concordia was the first NAIA school the Storm had played against this season.

The situation will be fluid moving forward. The Bulldogs were scheduled to host Truman State University (Mo.) on March 22, but that match will be postponed. The GPAC announced on March 13 that all conference member athletic activities will be suspended during the time period of March 16 through April 5 due to the coronavirus pandemic.